Recording and/or Reproducing Apparatus and Method for Loading of Recording Medium
1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a recording and/or reproducing apparatus employing a plate-shaped memory as a recording medium. More particularly, it relates to a recording and/or reproducing apparatus having a plate-shaped memory removably loaded thereon, and a method for loading a memory on this apparatus.
2. Background Art
Up to now, as a recording and/or reproducing apparatus enclosed in a personal computer or in an audio visual equipment, or as a recording and/or reproducing apparatus used as an external memory for these apparatus or equipment, such an apparatus employing a magnetic disc or an optical disc as a recording medium is in widespread use.
On the other hand, as an apparatus for recording and/or reproducing the audio or video information, such an apparatus employing a magnetic tape, a magnetic disc or an optical disc as a recording medium, is in use.
In this sort of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus, such apparatus has been proposed in which a plate-shaped memory provided with a solid memory, such as a flash memory, or an IC, and having a further reduced size, is used as a recording medium. The plate-shaped memory, employing the solid memory, can be of a reduced size despite its large recording capacity, thereby enabling the recording and/or reproducing apparatus employing this memory to be further reduced in size.
The recording and/or reproducing apparatus, employing a memory employing in turn a solid memory, as a recording medium, can be further reduced in size in keeping with a memory which can be reduced in size sufficiently as compared to a tape cassette or a disc cartridge.
If the recording and/or reproducing is reduced in size, an operating unit for selecting the operating mode of this apparatus, an ejecting device for ejecting a memory loaded on a main body portion of the apparatus and so forth, can be mounted in proximity to one another.
If these plural operating units are mounted in proximity to one another, one is liable to make an erroneous operation. If, when the recording and/or reproducing operating mode is selected, the ejecting device is erroneously selected, so that the memory is ejected, not only can the information not be recorded correctly, but also the information recorded on the memory tends to be destroyed.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a recording and/or reproducing apparatus which enables the recording and/or reproducing apparatus to be reduced further in size while also enabling the apparatus to be improved in tractability through the use of a plate-shaped memory.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a recording and/or reproducing apparatus which can be reduced in size and in which mistaken operations of the apparatus may be eliminated to assure correct recording and/or reproduction of information signals.
For accomplishing the above objects, the present invention provides a recording and/or reproducing apparatus including a main body portion of the apparatus on which a recording medium is removably loaded, a selection operation unit provided at a position towards one end from a mid portion of the main body portion of the apparatus for selecting at least data stored in the recording medium, a reproducing unit for reproducing the data selected by the selection actuation portion, and an ejection unit provided at a position towards the opposite end from the mid portion of the main body portion of the apparatus for ejecting a recording medium loaded in the main body portion of the apparatus, in order to prevent mistaken operations in data selection and memory ejection.
The selection operation unit for selecting the operating mode is moved in a direction of emerging from and receding into the inside of the main body portion of the apparatus, and is rotated relative thereto, with the ejection unit being moved parallel to one surface of the main body portion of the apparatus.
The ejection unit is moved in a direction of inserting the memory into the main body portion to eject the memory from the main body portion.
The memory insertion/ejection opening, via which the memory is inserted and ejected, is provided on the opposite end of the main body portion of the apparatus. The memory is inserted from the opposite end towards one end of the main body portion of the apparatus.
On one surface of the main body portion of the apparatus, there is provided a window via which at least a portion of one surface of the memory inserted into the holder is exposed to outside. This window is closed by a light- to dark-colored transparent plate formed integrally with the main body portion of the apparatus to render the window less apparent.